18 Aug 2023 16:15:18
So this window we have give or take received €150m, spent €12m and probably decreased our wage bill by €300k a week.

Of course that won't all go into transfer budget, we need to be sensible now we aren't a PL side, but I would think we can except to apportion a good €40-50m into strengthening the squad some more.

I'd also now expect McCarthy, ABK, Lyanco, Perraud, Djenepo, Onuachu and maybe Aribo to go in the final few weeks for a rough total of €60m, with another €300k off the wage bill.

This means all in all, purely on players we are €200m in sales and €30m in annual wages better off. I'd want at least a quarter of that being fed back in to buy players.

What that also illustrates is we have zero need to sell Tella, Adams, Sulemana, KWP if they aren't pushing to leave. Why sell Tella for €18m when a suitable replacement for us would probably cost more anyway? Same with Che. Unless we think we can genuinely improve and I don't think we can.

So that leave us short of a full back, centre back, centre mid and maybe one more attacker, plus a goalkeeper, however I do not see us being that busy in the final two weeks of the window.

Shea at Luton would be my pick as competition in goal. He's now third choice, came up last season, 32, experienced, what we want, and would be a few mill at most.

Chambers/Holgate and Spence would also be very useful additions having done decent work in recent years, have experience but by no means over the hill, even just on loans.

If Downes is coming in, then he, Charles and Alcaraz is a pretty bang on midfield, and I don't think we will get another forward in unless Che or AA leave, in which case it'll probably be Piroe for €20m.

So I don't think we're miles away, but given the players we've been linked with, if we do lose a striker, I'd hope our final few weeks look like this;

Shea (LUT) GK - €2m
Spence (TOT) RWB - Loan
Holgate (EVE) CB - €10m (maybe tricky if Everton want a forward in return, in which case Chambers on a loan?)
Downes (WHU) - Loan
Piroe (SWA) - €20m if Adams/Armstrong leave

Total spent in the window around €50m, clear out the players who don't want to be here, make bank and see where we are at Christmas, but with that potential squad, we should be top 4 at worst.

1.) 19 Aug 2023
19 Aug 2023 09:28:04
@SaintGGsy Completely agree with your pragmatic positivity.

As it stands, our first 11 is on paper very good with impact players on the bench.

If we get a good price, the players want moves and we have top replacements, I can stomach 2 of the following but prefer not to sell.

ABK for Harwood-Bellis
Adams or Tella for Piroe
KWP for Spence

I assume loans are muted because the players are willing to give 1 year and hope for promotion but not 2 or 3. I think that would be the best case scenario for ABK, Adams and KWP also, in all fairness

We have 9 forwards and wingers competing for 3 places at the moment. Onuachu and Djenepo can go. Hard to justify new forwards unless they do, though I hope for a Lambert style player.

We have too many LBs so one can go. Not sure on Aribo. Wage too high for a squad player so would give youth a chance here or bring in a tough leader to steady the game in the last 20 minutes.

The below team should be top 6 at least. If we had a Fonte or Lambert style player then top 2. Lacking a few fighters to get stuck into set pieces on a rainy away day but let's hope we get those players in too.

COYR

KWP/Spence
ABK/Harwood-Bellis
Bednarek
Manning

Smallbone
Downes
Alcaraz

Tella
Adams/Piroe
Sulemana

2.) 19 Aug 2023
19 Aug 2023 11:27:46
We still need to replace Romeu, until we sign a CDM we will struggle against the better teams. As that midfield three are great ball carriers but we need someone to do the dirty work like Marsden and Chaplow used to do.

3.) 19 Aug 2023
19 Aug 2023 20:11:22
Excellent Summary Saint GGsy -

The only one that may need to be sold, as his contract is running down is Che Adams. If you say value today £15 million, divide that by say 40 games = £300k a game, plus paying him circa £50k a week so £350k a game, that's too rich, so either extend his contract by say 2 years, increase his wage to say £65k a week and we have cover, either selling him next year, without receiving Zero, or if he does really well, extend again.

We have some great youngsters coming though, and with your suggested £40 - £50 million to cover say 3 players, either Harwood-Bellis or McAtee from City, Pireo and maybe another Goalkeeper if we sell McCarthy (is there a god)?

And Spence on Loan with Downes (ideally with an Option to Purchase) we are good to go.

Ballard
Diamond Edwards
Dibbling
Doyle

All to be integrated too!